Erik Norlander, GV's General Partner, discusses investing in enterprise software and frontier technology like Cockroach Labs, emphasizing the importance of technology foundation over revenue in pitches. They also explore balancing revenue generation and product development, the value of a technical sounding board, and GV's diversified portfolio focusing on AI opportunities.
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Quick takeaways
Google Ventures invests across diverse tech sectors like enterprise software, developer tools, and machine learning.
Eric Norlander highlights the unconventional path from tech roles to venture capital, showcasing varied VC entry routes.
Understanding the diverse backgrounds of VCs is essential, emphasizing multiple paths to success in venture capital.
Deep dives
GV, An Overview
GV, an independent venture capital firm under Alphabet, has a diverse investment focus spanning enterprise software, frontier technology, developer tools, cloud infrastructure, and machine learning. Eric Norlander, a general partner at GV, has a track record of backing companies like Cockroach, Warp, and Neo4j, leveraging his experience in technological roles prior to joining GV in 2010. Gregor Vand, founder of MailPass, hosts Eric on the podcast to discuss his VC journey, highlighting the unconventional path to becoming a VC.
Personal Journey to VC
Eric Norlander recounts his transition to venture capital, reflecting on his technical background, including a stint at Google, and his gradual shift towards startup investments. His journey epitomizes the unexpected routes individuals take to venture capital, emphasizing the evolution from a technical role to a VC career.
Diverse Pathways to Success in Venture Capital
Eric Norlander challenges the notion of a singular path to success in venture capital, highlighting the diverse backgrounds and experiences that VCs bring to the table. The discussion underscores the significance of understanding VC perspectives and the various routes individuals take to thrive in the industry.
Venture Capital Insights on Company Evaluation
Eric Norlander shares insights into evaluating companies from a venture capital perspective, emphasizing the importance of looking beyond immediate market trends and focusing on long-term growth potential. The discussion touches on the nuances of company valuation, underscoring the dynamic nature of investment decisions in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
Future of Software Engineering and AI
Eric Norlander delves into the intersection of software engineering and AI, envisioning a future where AI enhances the software development process. His outlook highlights the transformative impact of AI on developer tools, infrastructure, and the software creation experience, emphasizing the need for continuous innovation and adaptation in tech entrepreneurship.
GV, or Google Ventures, is an independent venture capital firm backed by Alphabet.
Erik Nordlander is a General Partner at GV and invests across enterprise software and frontier technology, focusing on developer tools, cloud infrastructure and machine learning. He has backed companies like Cockroach, Warp and Neo4j. Prior to joining GV in 2010 and opening up the firm’s New York City office, Erik was at Google and led development of the company’s next-gen display and serving system, and built statistical and machine learning models for Google’s ad businesses.
Erik joins the podcast to talk about his work.
Gregor Vand is a security-focused technologist, and is the founder and CTO of Mailpass. Previously, Gregor was a CTO across cybersecurity, cyber insurance and general software engineering companies. He has been based in Asia Pacific for almost a decade and can be found via his profile at vand.hk.